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A recent speech at the Quebec City Real Estate Forum by a leading retailer-Peter Simons, highlighted the exponential disruption occurring in numerous sectors such as self-driving cars, car sharing services, clean energy, fintech and the state of preparedness or lack thereof in the real estate sector.

We have all witnessed the slow to rapid transformation of the retail sector from traditional retailers to those focussed on the customer experience and driving online sales from the retail locations. Lawyers will continue to cogitate on how to capture online sales in their retail leases, structure stores within stores, smaller footprints, changing parking ratios, new transport oriented developments as well as increasing mixed use developments with attendant cost sharing attributions as well as redevelopment following the demise of traditional retailers most spectacularly highlighted by target.

On the office side new collaborative sharing models and entrants such as WeWork and Regent together with shifts toward the new economy will challenge vacancy rates and sharing models as well as subleasing markets. Many B buildings will also need repositioning.

The industrial market will also benefit from the new online and digital friendly logstics world and many will spring from urban redevelopment projects due to lack of available land.

Burgeoning senior and student housing markets will present new retail and mixed use opportunities.

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